Description

Nearly 500 years after the Spanish conquered their mighty empire the Aztecs are often remembered today for their major capital Tenochtitlan as well as being fierce conquerors of the Valley of Mexico who often engaged in human sacrifice rituals Unlike the Maya the Aztecs are not widely viewed or remembered with nuance in part because their own leader burned extant Aztec writings and rewrote a mythologized history explaining his empires dominance less than a century before the Spanish arrived Naturally Cortes and other Spaniards depicted the Aztecs as savages greatly in need of conversion to Catholicism While the Maya are remembered for their astronomy numeral system and calendar the Aztecs have primarily been remembered in a far narrower way despite continuing to be a source of pride to Mexicans through the centuries